As absurd as the Fast and Furious franchise has become, you have to admit it included some amazing vehicles. In fact, not long ago, we did a list with some awesome F&F cars that, in our opinion, didn’t get enough screen time. However, there’s another one that has a history and we deemed it interesting enough to get its own article. It’s Sean’s Nissan S15 Silvia from Tokyo Drift. No, not “Mona Lisa”, the other one.
When it comes to S15s in the Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift, your first thoughts are probably of the blue and orange RB26-powered Nissan that the main protagonist smashed in the first half of the movie. The one we are talking about is actually shown in the end where it goes up against Dom’s Roadrunner.
Craig Lieberman was a technical advisor for the first two movies, so he is quite knowledgeable about what cars were in the movie. This extends to vehicles from later movies, like the one we are showcasing today.
Known as the Drift Speed Quicksilver S15
The car’s story actually begins long before the movie, as it was a well-known drift car in Japanese car culture. In fact, Pro AM drifter Matt Predmore, who is also the most recent owner of the car, says that the Quicksilver S15 was well-known long before and after the movie. He became familiar with the company Drift Speed during his time in Japan between 2005 and 2010.
Around that time, the Silvia S15 was competing in the Drift Speed USA Series. Once it became available, Matt Predmore bought the car, but had no idea that the car was already a movie star. When Drift Speed had the car, it still had an SR20DET engine in it that made around 400 horsepower. The Silvia had a variety of great parts, among which an Apex’i PowerFC, Greddy turbocharger and intake manifold, ARC intercooler, Koyo radiator, Kazam catch can, Blitz URAS boost controller, HKS air filter and oil cooler, Wise Square besiege exhaust, and other.
Humble beginnings
The silver Nissan initially starred as one of the 200 extra cars that were used as props for the underground parking lot scene. Eventually, it made it as Sean’s vehicle of choice after he became the drift king at the end of the movie.
Much better than the "Mona Lisa"
Lieberman makes a point that the “Mona Lisa” S15 was not representative of JDM car culture, as “only the wheels were JDM”. Meanwhile, the Quicksilver S15 was much more representative of JDM car culture and, unlike the “Mona Lisa”, it wasn’t a “poser car”. Sadly, the Drift Speed Quicksilver got way less screentime than it deserved and because it wasn’t painted a bright color, people quickly forgot about it, Craig Lieberman remarks.
Who would have won between Sean and Dom?
This might make some people very angry, but the fact of the matter is that the S15 had at least 400 pounds weight advantage, a much nimbler chassis, and is nearly three feet (915 mm) shorter than the mighty Plymouth.
What happened to the S15 after Fast & Furious?
The car’s drifting career reportedly started around 20 years ago. After the movie, the S15 was acquired by Matt Predmore, around 2011 and returned to the drift racing scene. It raced for a couple of years, after which it started showing at a wide range of drifting events, around the US.
During that period the S15 got a 2JZ engine swap, but no exact power figures were given. We would guess the car made between 600 to 700 horsepower. In 2018, “the economics of drifting stopped making sense for Pro AM drivers” and Matte Predmore ended up selling the car.
Fast-forward to 2021 and the car is now in the hands of Japan-based company “Buy now Japan”. The Quicksilver S15 is said to be in Georgia where it is currently being fully rebuilt for the Formula Drift Series Pro-One class, in 2022. This could mean that the Quicksilver Silvia S15 will look nothing like what we’ve seen in the Fast & Furious Tokyo Drift movie.
A good amount of the Fast & Furious movie cars were modified, but very few were actual, serious builds intended to compete. The Quicksilver is one of those few cars and because of this, it deserves to have its own story in the automotive archives of movie cars.